The new rules on quads and footworks are favorable for Joubert. Kozuka falls under pressure of "clean" quads from the Japanese rivals.

Ladies
1 Ando
2 Suzuki
3 Nagasu
I'm not sure about Mirai's injury, but I'm sure that she can't handle the pressure of being the leader after the SP. Ando is fairly consistent with low risk Morozov programs, and she can expect #1 Japanese PCS after Asada's self destruction. Suzuki is always strong in Japan and Asia.

The new rules on quads and footworks are favorable for Joubert. Kozuka falls under the pressure of "clean" quads from the Japanese rivals.

Ladies
1 Ando
2 Suzuki
3 Nagasu

I'm not sure about Mirai's injury, but I'm sure that she can't handle the pressure of being the leader after the SP. Ando is fairly consistent with low risk Morozov programs, and she can expect #1 Japanese PCS after Asada's self destruction. Suzuki is always strong in Japan and Asia.

Joubert benefits from the relaxed edge calls. He doesn't UR too much either. Verner's all over the place, of course, but he still gets the good GOEs when on and his PCS don't ever suffer too much. Kozuka will definitely be feeling the pressure to land a quad after his rivals in Japan did as well. Voronov is even more inconsistent, so I think Contesti can sneak in there for fourth.

The top four are all to a certain extent are helped by the new rules, but no one moreso than Ando. Assuming Nagasu's injury is still hindering her a little be, I think we'll see Ando taking it. Suzuki will be right there to benefit if one of the top two falter, but she needs to keep her SP together to ensure a medal. Leonova.... with Makarova's success and the stable of young talent, you've gotta wonder if hte Russian Federation will push her with any fervor. I'm tossing Dobbs on because I think Kwak will suffer from the whole boondoggle earlier this year.

I predict that too much travelling for the young Russian pair will hinder their performances (Russia to Canada; Canada to China. Hopefully not back to Russia this week, because thats insane). It'll be interesting to see if internal politics hurts Sui/Han (a few people were worried about this), but I think the desire to have them do well on the senior circuit quickly (essentially there's no "third" Chinese team now, regardless) will trump internal division. Evora/Ladwig will benefit from the stellar year they had last year - no one saw them coming and then they had two glorious championships and I think that will motivate them to even higher heights.

Okay, dance is tricky. F/S benefit hugely from levels, as do Bobrova/Soloviev. Pechalat/Bourzat a little less so, and I don't think Zhulin's all that great in this regard either (remember, I/K had problems at NHK with this as well)., but their PCS will be good. Hoffman/Zavosin seem like the next placers, and really, it's anyone's game for the fifth. I think the top Chinese team will get it (Huang/Zheng)

Joubert will benefit from the new quad rules, especially if he does it in the SP which I assume he's planning to. Kozuka and Verner I expect to be close, but due to Verner's tendency to tire at the end of his FS, I expect he'll give up some easy points through doubling jumps or leaving out combos, so Kozuka will likely come out on top. That being said, Tomas's coaching change seems to have done him well so I think he could end up 2nd or even 1st, depending on what Joubert and Kozuka do, if Joubert channels 09 TEB and Kozuka 10 Worlds, Verner could very well end up Michael Jackson-ing his way to gold. Contesti will get hurt a little by PCS but he is usually pretty consistent with his jumps so I think he should be able to beat Voronov.

Mirai I bet will win the SP but where she is coming off injury may lack some stamina in the FS and make a few mistakes. Miki is usually pretty consistent in the FS and skated pretty well at Japan Open, I tend to think she'll be 2nd after the SP and then win the FS to pull up to 1st overall. Suzuki will also likely have a strong FS but tends to struggle in the SP. Leonova will likely be ahead of Suzuki after the SP but a sloppy FS will hold her off the podium. As for 5th I tend to think it will be either Kwak or Dobbs, but I'm just going to guess Kwak where she has a 3lz and great spins, her URs also seem better but it will likely depend on the caller. Musademba could also be 5th but her scores from regionals aren't encouraging.

Pang and Tong will lead with a big margin, but the Russians should be able to hold onto silver. Between Sui/Han and Evora/Ladwig, it's a bit of a toss up, but Sui/Han seem to be in good form this season so I'm predicting they'll bump the Americans off the podium.

Ladies: Ando, Suzuki, Nagasu in some order. We will be a lady short, as Yan Liu has been scratched and presumably will not be replaced. While probably past her prime, I always enjoy seeing her so am a little

Men: Joubert and Machida somewhere on the podium. Third pick very hard, Verner if he shows up and doesn't send his evil twin. Otherwise--Kozuka or Contesti.

Pairs: Pang/Tong for gold. Evora/Ladwig for silver. Bronze either the Iliu/Mais or Sui/Han.

Dance: French and Russians on the podium. Third between the Italians and Hungarians.

Ladies: Ando, Suzuki, Nagasu in some order. We will be a lady short, as Yan Liu has been scratched and presumably will not be replaced. While probably past her prime, I always enjoy seeing her so am a little

Men: Joubert and Machida somewhere on the podium. Third pick very hard, Verner if he shows up and doesn't send his evil twin. Otherwise--Kozuka or Contesti.

Pairs: Pang/Tong for gold. Evora/Ladwig for silver. Bronze either the Iliu/Mais or Sui/Han.

Dance: French and Russians on the podium. Third between the Italians and Hungarians.

Jw, why the anticipated fall down the standings from Faiella and Scali?

I would anticipate no such thing from F&S. They are on the way up, not the way down.
However, they may get caught in the redefined guidelines for the Golden Waltz in the SD, as P&B and D&W before them have.

This should be a super dance competition.
H&Z have done very well in summer & fall competitions. P&B had fixed the major part of GW troubles by their second competition. F&S didn't compete so their SD is a cipher, and it unclear whether they will get hit by new lift and twizzle issues as other older couples have done, adapting to the new rules. However, I would not expect them to fall off the podium, even in the worst case.

I expect to see Bobrova/Soloviev very competitive, exactly because the spots at worlds & Europeans are wide open in Russia. Like the Shibutanis and Chock & Zuerlein who seem newly energized this year, by the open spots in US ice dance, I hope to see B&S really shine this year.

I suspect Faiella Scalli were held up last season because of TORINO worlds. Since they already won medals as planned, Pechalat Bourzat can have their turn. Bobrova Soloviev will be Russia's #1 at least for this season.

Ice dance
1) Faiella / Scali
2) Pechalat/ Bourzat
3) Bobrova / Soloviev
P/B have had problems with the Amelie short dance, there's a rumor they may have changed it. I'm expecting F/S to come out on top.
Not sure about Bob/Sol becoming the top Russian team. They're quite pleasant but they really need to work on their speed, they seem quite slow for a Russian team... I expect Ilinykh/Katsalapov to improve a lot over the course of the season and overtake B/S.

Pang/Tong will easily take the gold. As mentioned above by ImaginaryPogue, traveling from Russia to Canada to China in such a short time frame may hurt I/M. Hard to tell how they'll cope but if they bomb, E/L or Y/C could take the silver. Sui/ Han may also challenge but they're still unpolished and had a rough skate in the Austrian JGP, not sure how they did in the other one.